Penguins CEO says team's appeal due to players' accessibility

Six years after the puck dropped for the first time at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins still mean business.

Big business.

So big, that instead of focusing efforts on attracting more corporate sponsors, the Penguins are searching for more creative ways

"Advertising has been steady since Day One, and it's getting better each year," said Penguins CEO and governor, Jeff Barrett. "The corporate support from northeast Pennsylvania is out of this world. We're maxed-out on the inventory we have but there's always room to find more."

Corporate interest is only one example of the community's growing interest in the Penguins. The steady 6,500-plus season ticket holders that support - and sometimes follow the team on the road - are another prominent indicator.

"We look at things based on our season ticket base, and over the last four years it's been over or around 6,500, and that's tops in the league. That's a good indicator," Barrett said.

That's 6,500 tickets out of 8, 100 each game, leaving only a few thousand available seats per each home game. Considering the large amount of group sales, Penguins tickets are still the hottest in town.

Among the championship banners hanging from the rafters of the arena (the Penguins have earned two trips to the coveted Calder Cup finals in five seasons), there are also banners commemorating several seasons worth of sold-out games.

The Penguins hold the American Hockey League record for sellouts (144) and only recently saw that streak come to an end.

"To be quite honest, that's not how we judge things financially," Barrett said. "Just because we missed another sellout by a hundred tickets or so on a busy Sunday where we had the Eagles and Steelers playing doesn't mean we're losing fans."

To the contrary, fan support continues to grow. The Penguins Fan Club carries nearly 1,000 members - a number that continues to rise as the team wins.

The Fan Club helps charities, organizes dinners and player hospitality, and maintains the "Penguin Island" near the arena.

In exchange for winning hockey games, the Penguins reward fans with an endless schedule of promotional giveaways ranging from bobbleheads to license plates.

"Those are things we do, sometimes not even with a sponsor," said Barrett. "We provide them with the latest and greatest every year and try to change it up as much as we can."

Perhaps even more remarkable is the fact that the Penguins' growing success comes at a time its parent league is languishing through a player strike.

"It's a market-by-market reaction where you have teams in National Hockey League markets like Philadelphia, Chicago, and Edmonton that are actually benefiting because now they're the only game in town," Barrett said. "It hasn't helped or hurt us, but the sport as a whole takes a black eye. On the other hand, it's made the product on the ice unbelievable because each team has at least four or five guys who would be playing in the NHL right now. It's hands-down the best competition we've seen."

While the big boys are vacationing in the islands or taking their slapshots overseas, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton players are enjoying the busy season. The opposite of a strike mentality, these players personally give back to the community more than any other team in the league.

Especially during the regular season, the Penguins (and mascot Tux) are just as visible off the ice with promotions such as the Penguins Radio Show with Tom Grace at the Arena Bar & Grill in WilkesBarre and numerous autograph signings and guest bartender appearances throughout northeast Pennsylvania.

"That's the best thing we do," Barrett said. "We do approximately 170 player appearances per season and that's probably double any other team in the league. In our opinion, that's a reason for our success because the community gets to know these players as individuals. They know them as people and they root for them to succeed. Unlike some other sports, a hockey players is just your average Joe."

An average Joe, and not a trouble-making average Joe. Although a select few NHL players have recently come under scrutiny for off-ice behavior, Barrett was quick to deflect any criticisms.

"Compared to any other sport, it's like night and day," he said. "Hockey players are much more disciplined. These are farm boys and average kids."